The Ottawa Senators logo is representative and noble because it depicts an ancient centurion. He personifies indestructible strength, courage, and determination. The proud profile is at the very heart of the emblem and serves as a guide for players to win hockey tournaments.
Ottawa Senators: Brand overview
Founded: | 1992 |
Founder: | Estate of the late Eugene Melnyk |
Headquarters: |
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Website: | nhl.com |
The Ottawa Senators are an ice hockey team located in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the NHL. It’s worth mentioning that the Ottawa Senators are a franchise with the most unusual and curious history. The club has two dates of foundation: 1883 and 1992. The original Ottawa Senators existed from 1883 to 1934. Hockey appeared in Ottawa as early as 1883 when the Ottawa HC amateur club was founded in Ontario. From 1883 to 1909, the team changed its name several times. For instance, in 1890, the team was renamed the Ottawa Generals. From 1903 to 1907, it bore the name Silver Seven. The team got the given for quite prosaic reasons: Silver – the team’s owner paid players silver nuggets for each Stanley Cup they had won (in the era of amateur hockey, players were forbidden to receive money for the game), Seven – in honor of the number of players in the team and the rink.
In 1909, the team became completely professional and changed its name to Senators. The first reference to the nickname of Senators happened to appear in a game report in 1901. It referred to the fact that the team was based in Canada’s capital, where the Senate of Canada resided.
From 1917 to 1934, the team won 11 Stanley Cups.
The Ottawa Senators wore red, white, and black horizontally-striped sweaters. The given color scheme remained until 1934 when the team was forced to leave the NHL for a long time due to financial difficulties. Despite that, four-time Stanley Cup winners rarely had a logo: only in the after-champion seasons did they sew a red-and-black shield on the sweater to indicate their champion status. Before the dissolution, in the 1929-1930 season, the team introduced the “O” logo to the sweaters’ chest.
In 1934, the Senators were going through hard times because of serious financial problems, so they had to move to St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The club changed its name to St. Louis Eagles. Did this name have any connection to American patriotism? Unfortunately, nobody knows. After the 1934-1935 season, the team fell into oblivion; NHL dispersed St. Louis Eagles players among the other league teams.
In 1990, the Ottawa-native businessman Bruce Firestone bid to the NHL to establish a new franchise with the old name and the old black-and-red-and-white color scheme. It took two years for Bruce Firestone to convince the NHL authorities to accept a new franchise from Canada’s capital to the league. In October 1992, the Senators played their first game against the Montreal Canadiens as a member of the NHL. The Ottawa Senators logo features the Roman legionnaire profile. The second shoulder patch contains the Latin letter “S” and Roman numerals “MDCCCXCIV.”
Spartacus, an anthropomorphic red-haired lion, is the official mascot of the Ottawa Senators.
Meaning and History
The Ottawa Senators franchise has kept the same key visual concept of the logo throughout its recent history. It managed to become one of the few teams who just modernized, slightly altered or corrected the main team logo. Strength and determination are what the Ottawa Senators logo conveys. It was adopted in May 1993, just before starting the hockey players’ performances, the first season of which ended at the end of the same year. Tony Milchard designed it. Besides, the logo contained the name of the team placed on the military shield. Later on, it was removed. In 2008, the Senators updated the previous logo and use it till now. According to club owner Eugene Melnyk, the brand new Ottawa Senators’ logo symbolizes “strength and determination.” As a young franchise, there are only three emblems in her career: debut, transitional, and ongoing.
What is Ottawa Senators?
This is a professional Canadian ice hockey team. She is based in Ottawa and hosts home games at the Canadian Tire Center. The club is part of the NHL, where it plays for the Atlantic Division and represents the Eastern Conference. It was founded in December 1990 but only officially started performing in 1992.
1883 – 1917
The first graphic symbol of the team looked like a Kolovrat, not with eight, but with nine rays. It looked very strange because it consisted of three legs pointing in different directions and connected in the center. Between each pair of limbs, double claw-like figures were depicted. There were three “claws” or six protruding pointed stripes. This Ottawa Senators logo has been dyed entirely in deep red. It symbolized great speed and sports passion. And the legs, bent at the knees, looked like stylized hockey sticks.
1917 – 1934
After the redesign, the Kolovrat disappeared, giving way to a large black letter “O” with a white stroke and a red outline. It used a contrasting font with vertically elongated glyphs. The background was a flag divided into two color blocks: a red top and a black bottom. It was placed in a dark rectangular frame.
1992 – 1997
The first Ottawa Senators logo was unveiled in Ottawa in 1992. Its design was rather simple yet symbolic. It featured the Roman emperor or the Centurion. The logo color scheme included red, black, and gold. The emperor was depicted in profile, wearing a gold helmet with laurels. The image was rounded with two semicircles. The red-and-black one resembled the warrior’s helmet, while the gold semicircle contained the black-scripted “Ottawa Senators” wordmark.
1997 – 2007
Over the next nine years, the Ottawa Senators hockey club had a more or less identical logo to the previous one. The name of the team on a gold semicircle was replaced with black laurel. The rest of the design has not been changed.
2007 – 2020
The Ottawa Senators’ third and last logo was introduced in 2008. After a series of changes suggested by the franchise owner, the visual identity mark has become even more decisive and strict. The Ottawa Senators emblem went through a major overhaul and acquired a more modern look without losing its distinctive style. It still represents the Roman emperor, a member of the Senate of the Roman Empire, yet he is depicted not in profile but full face. His face is stoic and strict, with prominent cheekbones and strong features. This is what the stern gaze of the centurion, depicted in half-face, speaks of. The gaze is directed straight ahead and expresses courage, determination, steadfastness – the qualities necessary to achieve victory.
On the head of the Roman general is a golden helmet with a raised visor. Metal plates also protect the sides of the face, and burgundy feathers protrude from above. The same color and the collar of the cloak, thrown over the shoulders. The facial features are formed by crossing thick black lines. On the right is a part of the shield with a laurel wreath pattern.
2020 – today
For 2020, the Ottawa Senators have restored their classic right-facing centurion logo. The designers returned the half-turned head position and retained the same face shape as in the 1997-2007 version. And in general, almost the entire composition is copied from the old emblem version: both the half-ring, complemented by a laurel wreath, and the curly elements on the left. Only the color scheme has changed. The demi-ring and outlines of the headdress have taken on a dark gold hue, and a large red detail, reminiscent of the plume on an imperial helmet, has become burgundy.
Font and Colors
The character on the logo has always remained the same – the image of a Roman general or a centurion. Only the position of his head changed. In the earliest versions (in the first two), he is shown in profile and looks to the left. In 2007, after the redesign, the developers turned their heads, drawing it almost in full face. The artists also detailed facial expressions, rendering them in dark strokes, which was not observed before. Until that time, the eyes, nose, and lips were shaped like triangles.
The centurion wears a large helmet with wings on the back. Previously, in front of him was the inscription “OTTAWA SENATORS” in the form of a semicircle. Now there is a fragment of a wreath of laurel branches and leaves. Moreover, all variants of the logo are simple and do not contain many elements.
The inscription is present only on the first logo. It is done in a classic serif typeface. Thin letters are sparse, so they stand far from each other.
The Ottawa Senators hockey team borrowed the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association’s official palette, of which they were apart. After the collapse and disappearance of the sports association, the club owners began to use it as a successor. The logo includes all four corporate colors: white, black, red Hex: # CF0820, and golden Hex: # C09205.
Ottawa Senators color codes
Red | Hex color: | #bc2035 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 188 32 53 | |
CMYK: | 23 100 85 9 | |
Pantone: | PMS 187 C |
Black | Hex color: | #010101 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 1 1 1 | |
CMYK: | 0 0 0 100 | |
Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |
Gold | Hex color: | #aa9868 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 170 152 104 | |
CMYK: | 33 34 72 2 | |
Pantone: | PMS 7503 C |
What does the Ottawa Senators logo mean?
The logo stands for strength and determination. For this, the image of a centurion was used – the Roman emperor in a golden helmet, a member of the Senate of the Roman Empire. He has strong-willed features and a stern look. A round shield serves as a background.
Did the Ottawa Senators change their logo?
The Ottawa Senators team changed their logo twice: in 1997 and 2007. For the first time, the changes were minor: instead of the name, a laurel branch, stylized as an ornament, appeared on the round shield. The designers placed the warrior’s head in the full face for the second time, not in profile, adding volume to the emblem.
Where are the Ottawa Senators?
The team is based in the capital of Canada – in the city of Ottawa. She is also located in the Atlantic Division of the NHL, where she represents the Eastern Conference.
When did Ottawa Senators change their logo?
The Ottawa Senators logo changed dramatically in 2007. Then the image of the centurion was placed in full face, which added three-dimensionality, severity, and decisiveness to him.